for Hind Rajab
Hind was a little girl of five and a half years.
In photos you can see her
in a purple dress and pink necklace
with her name in letters,
white flowers in her hair,
or in her kindergarten graduation gown
with a jaunty cap and tassel
over cascading brown curls.
She was a little girl
who like other little girls loved to play, dance, run
but she lived in Gaza, Palestine
under Israel’s occupation backed by U.S. weapons.
She was a little girl
forced to flee with aunt, uncle, cousins,
in a car full of children
fired on
by an Israeli tank at point blank range─
335 rounds!
After the soul-chilling screams
died
down
Hind was a little girl alone
in the car, on the phone
with a kindly emergency operator,
“I’m so scared, please come get me out of here!”
Imagine her fear, her terror
with dead loved ones entwined around her,
and a monster tank right beside her.
Hind, a little girl, was found dead
twelve days later
with brave paramedics who came to rescue her
also targeted, murdered.
Hind Rajab was a little girl,
a little girl,
little
girl.
Don’t forget her.